Just as time was running out for some U.S. trading partners seeking to reach agreements before President Trump's July 9 deadline for tariffs to return to the higher levels originally proposed, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick again announced a further extension.

Lutnick said Sunday that the so-called “reciprocal” tariffs, which are subject to a trade pause that expires Wednesday, will not take effect until August 1.

As Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had anticipated, around 100 partners would probably see a minimum “reciprocal” rate of 10% this week, but everything was a bluff, again.

According to Lutnick's latest announcement, made alongside President Donald Trump, who nodded to the group of journalists accompanying them in New Jersey, "They will go into effect on August 1. The tariffs go into effect on August 1. But the president is setting the rates, and the agreements, right now."

Lutnick's comments represent a new postponement of the imposition of the highest tariffs that make up Trump's aggressive policy, which he announced on April 2, on what he called the "Day of Liberation', which led to a trade war.

This Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, on CNN's 'State of the Union' program, already alluded to this new deadline, expressing that tariffs will return like a "boomerang" to their April 2 levels if the countries or blocks do not have closed agreements by August 1.

Trump has said that starting tomorrow, Monday, after initially saying he would do so on Friday, he will send letters detailing the tariffs he wants to impose on each partner starting August 1 if there is no agreement before the deadline he originally set, July 9.

"When we send the 100 letters (to 100 countries) we will set their tariff rates, with which we will have 100 (agreements) made in the next few days," the Treasury Secretary detailed to CNN, and said the strategy was to “apply maximum pressure” to obtain those agreements.

Today, before boarding Air Force One at a local airport in New Jersey, Trump said he will send 12 to 15 letters this Monday, and when asked about his expectations for closing deals this week, Lutnick responded that Trump is “making all kinds of deals with all kinds of countries.”

Trump also stated this weekend that the tariffs he will announce in letters would be as high as 70% for some countries, a level much higher than initially announced.

Since taking office, Trump has unleashed a global trade war that has roiled financial markets and forced policymakers to rush to protect their economies, including through agreements with the United States and other countries.